Christian Foley is a poet, musician, writer and educator who works closely with kids in East London who are affected by the knife crime epidemic.

In his six years of teaching, Christian has seen 12 of his pupils fatally stabbed. His poem, Dear Ghost, explains the grief and gravity of the issue.

How can spoken word help the knife crime epidemic?

We asked Christian why he thinks poetry and spoken word is a good tool to educate and help those affected by such a serious issue.

“Anything that provides a facility for self-expression helps children to articulate their emotions, and that prevents them from being manifested in another way.

“If a child cannot talk about how they feel they are far more likely to resort to criminal or aggressive behaviour, so poetry is an outlet.”

Working so closely with children in East London, leads to much concern about their welfare, especially when they don’t turn up to school or when it’s half term.

“5% of the kids I teach never turn up to school.

“Then there’s students I have in my head and I’m thinking, have they eaten? Have they returned home? Have they slept? I have no way of knowing any of that, and that worries me.

“So when they come back after half term, that’s when we know if there’s been problems or not.

There’s students I have in my head and I’m thinking, have they eaten? Have they returned home? Have they slept?

When asked about how to tackle this knife crime epidemic, Christian admitted there is no ‘immediate solution’.

“But poverty unites all the problems. Stop the poverty, and you stop the knife crime.”

Christian also runs Spoken Word Sundaes, a night of emerging underground talent in Shoreditch.

His debut album, Excommunication, was released in February 2019.

Do you live in East London and have an East Side Story to tell? Get in touch!
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